Tax Reviser Says Game Isn`t Over

December 15, 1985|By Lea Donosky, Chicago Tribune.

WASHINGTON — The architect of the tax revision bill admits there has been ``slippage`` in Democratic support since the measure was blocked last week when Republicans staged a mutiny against the White House.

insists the legislation still can make a comeback this week before Congress recesses for the year if President Reagan can persuade 75 members of his own party to vote for the bill and keep a legislative vehicle alive to send to the Republican controlled Senate.

``Everybody`s out there with a shovel wanting to dig a hole, particularly (the press),`` Rostenkowski said. ``But this bill has had last rites at least three times.``

Rostenkowski said House Speaker Thomas O`Neill (D., Mass.) has asked the President to guarantee the 75 Republican votes before the Speaker reschedules the legislation for a vote. The numbers are needed to make up for slippage over the past few days in Democratic support, Rostenkowski said.

``There are no games being played,`` he continued, refuting suggestions that Democratic leaders are trying to keep Republicans in the politically embarrassing position of having killed legislation strongly backed by a Republican president.

Rostenkowski has been Reagan`s strongest ally in pushing the effort to overhaul the federal tax code. He has been joined by O`Neill, who noted that if Democrats had blocked the President`s call to revamp the tax code, Reagan would ``clobber`` the party politically.

House Minority Leader Robert Michel (R., Ill.) expressed the view that the possibility of an agreement that would allow the legislation to be reconsidered this week existed solely because of Rostenkowski.

``They could have shut the door on us. They didn`t do that because Rosty wants to move that bill. He`s got a lot of himself in it,`` Michel said.

Michel`s view is shared privately by Democratic congressional sources. They say that, at this point, Rostenkowski is more eager than O`Neill to keep the bill going.

Still, Rostenkowski acknowledges there are powerful political arguments against resurrecting the bill and running the risk of a defeat that Reagan could blame on the House Democrats.

As things stand now, the ``death`` of the tax initiative could be blamed on Republicans, who rebelled in droves against Reagan`s call to keep the legislation moving and blocked it on a procedural vote.

Democratic sources say the possibility of the bill`s demise is growing. Democratic defections are expected on the question of approving a rule governing the terms of debate, which is necessary before the tax bill itself can be considered.

For instance, nine Texas Democrats Wednesday joined 179 of their Democratic colleagues and 14 Republicans to approve the rule, but they might not vote the same way a second time around.

All nine of these Democrats, including Majority Leader James Wright, have said they will vote against the bill because it curtails tax write-offs for the state`s important oil and gas industry.

And Reagan, after two days of intense lobbying, has only been able to round up 38 of the 75 GOP votes needed to keep the issue alive for another battle in the Senate.